Okay. I’ve read all the policies and rules on the Ebay site. I think I understand the deal. I’m planning on thinning out my train collection there.
Do any of you veteran sellers have some useful advice for a man new to using Ebay?
Any tips or information I should know before I list somthing at auction?
Any help would be appreciated. Please.
Hi Aggro,
Though I’m mainly a buyer at Ebay, I have sold a few items, mainly to just get rid of them cause they didn’t fit my era or didn’t need them any more.
Some tips are to list an item as you would expect to search for it.
Example: Southern Pacific 4-8-8-2 Cab Forward Loco
This way a buyer can find it by looking up “cab forward” “southern pacific loco” or “4-8-8-2”, thus its easy to find however you search. As for pricing, that’s a tricky subject. You can put a reserve on an item to make sure there is a minimum you will accept. And watch similar items and see the going prices. Sometimes I’m amazed when I see items going for higher than Walther’s retail! And this is on stuff Walther’s has in stock!
An example are some of the UP FEF3’s that have been going for $150-200 for the same item on sale at Walther’s for $129!
Of course, on used items, unless very much in demand, expect less. I’ve seen lots of freight cars (tyco, LL (not proto) Bachman, AHM, etc. go really cheap.
Also, be realistic with your shipping charges. Some packaging and handling charge is necessary to cover the cost of the box, etc. But I’ve seen some $3 boxcars with a $10 shipping fee! When everyone knows that priority mail runs less than $5 for something that light, $10 is a bit much.
In other words, be realistic and good luck.
List you items to close during the evening on weekends when most people have time to look around.
Take good photos and answer questions promptly, especially near the end of an auction.
Add the manufacturer to your listing title.
I have sold alot of items on Ebay, and my recommendations are alot of people bookmark certain categories (IE: HO Atheran or HO Milwaukee). Sometimes its best to mention the scale in the title of your auction as well.
As up_santafe mentioned pricing is key! For alot of my Tyco cars I sold, and a few beat up cars, I would start the auction at .99 cents and watch the price grow! Even for some engines I did this. 95% of the time you will not recover original costs or exceed them on ebay. Ive been lucky on some things, and laughed about others that went really high that were cheaper on sale from Walthers (Conrail 6pk Coal cars. Purchased at $30 from Walthers in their junk bin and sold them for $80! with $6 shipping).
Pictures are great selling points. Especially if a car has a blemish or defect try to show it in the picture if possible, and explain it in the listing.
Just remember that the shipping price will make a difference like up_santafe said. What I tried to do was figure out the price and add between $1 - $1.50 more if I needed to purchase special supplies (IE: Boxes, or packing peanuts. Mostly I used the Sunday Paper). If possible, try to get boxes for free from local businesses that are a little larger than the item you are shipping. This will result in less materials used, a lighter package, less bulky package = Cheaper Shipping!
Best of all describe the item in full detail to the best of your knowledge, and it should reduce on the number of questions you receive from potential buyers.
Ok I think thats everything I know about selling on Ebay. I wish you luck and have lots fun watching the prices go up!!
DON
Awright I will help you out here.
I buy trains with a postal money order. Domestic for USA and International for Canada. I did do business with Singapore with a very nice seller that one got paid for with a cashier’s check in USA funds.
I use Priority mail. I have learned that the flat rate boxes are twice the cost of similar size boxes. There are 4 boxes. The post office would also sell Ready Post shipping box that is just big enough to fit a walthers barge kit inside. I have one ready to be shipped out this week.
I learned to take pictures of the items with either a camcorder under a bright light or a digital camera in a macro mode. The goal is sharp images and as much detail as you can get. Sometimes several pictures are useful (no… more pictures the better) You would want the ability to supersize the images. If you took say… 12 pictures then pay for the “Gallery view” fee it will save you. The first uploaded picture is free and more pictures are something like .15-.25 each to your fee.
I describe my item like thus:
4 pack of accurail stock car kits. These are Undecorated with data and are painted red. And that is about it. I usually put in something about shipping discount and disclaimers such as
“Auction is sold AS-IS.” I will not be responsible for missing parts in a kit or damage or loss in shipping" You may ask for insurance.
Packages under a green customs stickers to canada are not insure-able. Your best bet is to use Canada Post Air it only cost 8 bucks. Remember that your international customers will pay customs duty and taxes on the value of the auction. Some sellers choose to mark them “Gifts” I usually state the value on my shipments to customers who are fully aware of the situation. These customers are sometimes repeat customers.
Pay pal I dont use. I do have a bank account activated and confirmed with pay pal. Only because I wi***he flexibility of having Ebay with draw the invoice amount once
Just be honest and business like. List the item or items as they really are including little details because there are people out there that details really matter to. Try not to give your item or items away, and start your price at or near what you really want for it. I wouldn’t recommend using buy it now unless you know for a fact it’s a hot item and will sale for that price. Always answer all questions no matter how silly they might seem. Ship as soon as you can after payment is made to you. I personally have a PayPal account which lets the buyer pay with a credit card.
If you have any questions, write me.
trainluver1
Beware of potential buyers from the far East. A word to the wise. (This is not predjudice, it’s a documented fact.)
As a seller you should have a PayPal account, makes things go a lot faster. My last auctions were last fall, and all were paid for this way. Great to have the payment real soon after the auction and being able to mail out the items the next day. Everything is over an done with. Don’t forget to leave feedback to your buyers or to those doing the auctions.
Bob Boudreau
eBay feedback 313
I know many who won’t bid on an auction that only takes check or MO. I won’t bid, because I can’t be bothered to go to the post office and pay extra to pay with a method like this, when perfectly safe electronic methods are avaiable. To validate this theory, try listing 2 similar items, one with and one without Paypal and see if you get more bids on one.
Also, I agree with above comments about shipping. If I see a shipping ammount that is a clear effort to make a profit on the shipping I will avoid the auction. Not only does it quickly make the purchase of smaller items unrealistic, it implys to me a little dishonestly on the part of the seller.
While I haven’t sold anything on ebay - I’ve bought plenty - so this is from a buyer’s point of view.
Clear pictures. It’s amazing how many probably mint items don’t get bid on because the picture is bad.
Honest description. I’m more likely to bid on something that in the description says - “coupler broken” “box in bad shape” etc. than items that have these things but are only discovered upon closely looking at the picture.
Answer questions quickly. I see that as a seller interested in making sure the buyer is happy.
A little thank you note in the box with a sentance saying something like “if there is any problem - please notify me immediately so we can discuss it.”
I would suggest that you sell some of your smaller items first. Build up a good feedback rating before trying to sell your big ticket items. I am very adverse to bidding on a $200 item from a seller with a feedback rating of 3.
Good luck!!
Dave
I have sold a few things on eBay and I agree with everyone’s comments above. I would like to add that you should take the time to be very courteous with your buyers through email.
I had two atlas RTR 3-car sets that I listed last summer (the first things that I ever listed). One set was from the Deleware and Hudson and the other was from the Seaboard Line. I had got these when I purchased an engine from an estate sale, and I did not want to keep them as they did not fit the era that I was modelling. When I took them out of the box to inspect them, I accidentally put one of the cars in the box for the wrong road name and then put them back in the respective sets.
When the first buyer received his, I received a really angry email from him stating that the listing wasn’t accurate because the item was not in the original box. I checked the other item because I had not shipped it yet, and he was right. I politely replied explaining the mistake and then I contacted the other buyer to inform him. After realizing that it was an honest mistake the first seller apologized for the angry email and everything was OK.
I am glad that I took the time to figure out the problem and that I did not fire an angry email back to him.
Also if there is anything you would rather trade for something else, you can list it at http://www.trainstotrade.com for free. (This is a shameless plug for the site that I developed over the past few months)[:)]
Kevin
Kevin,
Man, I’m sure that put you in quite the panic!! I think your post is a good lesson for all of us. Sometimes mistakes happen as many ebay sellers are not professional sales folks. If there is something wrong - often times a friendly email will solve all problems.
Please post your shipping rates, here in Canada I have had terrific service from the USPS not ups, anything sent by ups collects a fee at this end as high as $25.00 for customs handling, also write “toy trains” on green custom label as there is no duty or custom fee on these items. Most sellers are very happy with money orders(in U.S. funds) which can be cashed same day.
Yep.
List the postage charge. Always use receipted mail.
Describe accurately.
List on Sunday Night - that’s the best time.
Batch up the goods, where possible, into what you reckon are $50 lots: at that point postage ceases to be an issue.
Sharp photos are good, lots of them.
If your customer has paid promptly, leave feedback promptly. The buyer has fulfilled his part of the bargain.
Never leave negative feedback first. If you are not happy, leave no feedback at all.
Answer all email promptly: if your connection is dialup, you may have to log on twice a day.
If you have never bought anything on eBay, buy something first: put yourself into your customer’s shoes.
Enough for now.
Allan Lees (takalinga(40))
One thing that I did not see mentioned above, for freight cars, in addition to the items mentioned above, provide road number, built or new date and the last date on the side of the car, may be the same as built or could be something else like repaint or rpkd.
If you do put a reserve price on something, Put the reserve price in the description. That way people will know where to start bidding if they are a serious buyer.
And like stated earlier sell “as is” and use tracking for your protection.
Thanks guys.
As for the bank thing, I already opened a new checking account to deal specifically with Ebay matters at my existing bank. Should I REALLY open one at a seperate bank?
Each to there own, but I would say it is overkill. Assess what your real risk is? If you are only taking checks and MO’s how will anyone get access to the bank details anyway? If you are using Paypal, you have to register your bank account with Paypal, but this information is not shared with the buyer. They simply pay based on your Paypal account. Paypal does the depositing into your account. I suppose Paypal could get hacked and your bank details lost, but then again, so potentially can your bank. There are some that will not use on-line banking because of the risk, but the truth is, that any bank in the US is going to have electronic records, even if you run your entire account with checks and deposit slips.
Aggro,
If you do open a PayPal account, be aware of a scam that is going around. If you recieve an
email from"PayPal" asking you to log on and verify your account info, it’s probably a scam to
get your sensitive information. PayPal would never ask you to enter bank account numbers
and other such info in an email.
I recieved one of these emails the other day. The email asked me to log on the link provided
and re-enter my bank account number… I don’t even have a PayPal account. If PayPal has
a problem with your account, they would have you go to there OFFICIAL website, not follow
a link in an email. Just a heads up. Good luck, Dave
just forward any suspicious PayPal or Ebay e-mails to spoof@paypal.com or spoof@ebay.com they will quickly respond and indicate if it was a legitimate e-mail or one of the phishing scams. More importantly, the more of the fake e-mails they recieve the better chance they have of tracing the scam artist.